Filed To Story: Chasing the Rejected Luna's Heart (Clara & Liam) Book PDF Free
The ground began to tremble, which had to be a coincidence, but the next thing that happened had me questioning it. A gust of icy wind came barreling down the alleyway, blowing all three vampires off their feet. Somehow, it didn’t touch me.
I didn’t wait for them to get back up. I ran like hell instead.
I kept running long after I had lost track of the vampires. The streets were empty, which was probably a good thing if I looked as monstrous as they seemed to think I was. The smart thing would’ve been to get somewhere private as fast as I could and try to shift back, but I wasn’t thinking rationally. I had become a beast who knew only instinct, and right now, that instinct was to get the hell out of the concrete jungle that was starting to seem so foreign to me.
I must have blacked out without stopping because when I came to, I no longer recognized where I was. I was somewhere on the outskirts of the city, or at least, I assumed I was since there was more distance between the buildings. I heard someone scream, and the murderous urge it stirred within me was enough to make me snap out of it for a second.
While I was still in control, at least somewhat, I turned in the other direction and ran harder than I ever had. A sliver of me was still aware that I needed to get somewhere and figure out how to shift back, but the wolf urged me forward, overriding the little sense that I was left with. Another adrenaline rush, and all of my senses went haywire once more. I didn’t know the language of this creature whose mind I was trapped in, but somehow, the language of this strange, new world seemed completely clear.
My wolf–or whatever it was–had decent direction, at least, because I caught sight of the forest and headed straight for it. I was faster than a wolf or any other four-legged creature I’d ever seen, but maybe that was just an illusion caused by the trees whipping past, branches and thorns tangling in my fur. I caught glimpses of it on my legs, enough to know it was a pale bluish-gray. A strange color, sure, but not unnatural. Certainly not enough to explain the vampires’ reactions.
I’d only been in the forest for a couple of minutes when I heard it. My head whipped back around, my ears pricking to listen, though I wasn’t any closer to understanding what I was hearing. My hearing was even sharper now, my instincts so fast my brain couldn’t keep up, but it didn’t have to. Conscious thought wasn’t necessary to move or react anymore.
All I had to do was feel the mental cues in my body to move. Of course, the mental cues kind of contradicted each other, because I felt like I could either run headfirst into a tree or dash through it without a second thought.
Another rumble built in my chest as my wolf responded to a threat I hadn’t even assessed yet. I would’ve assumed it was just an animal, and she was touchy enough that could’ve been enough to warrant such a reaction, but I couldn’t sense any animals nearby.
I ran straight toward that noise, following the mental cues in my mind.
As soon as I saw the dark figure up ahead, it was too late. My paw hit something unnaturally hard in the earth and a smoke bomb went off, blinding my sense of sight and smell. I whirled around in confusion, snapping at the air.
I didn’t smell anything but smoke and dirt, but my instincts told me to attack because if my enemy was invisible, he couldn’t see me either.
Something sharp pierced my side and I let out a strangled yelp, twisting around to try in vain to tear out what appeared to be a feathered dart. The initial pain was sharp, but the fire that spread through my veins was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
As I thrashed, my limbs grew heavy. The smoke was already starting to clear, and I could see a massive shadow approaching through it. No matter how furiously I clawed and snapped, I couldn’t get the dart out or move far enough away.
The shadow was right in front of me before I could make out more than a fuzzy outline. There was an unmistakable familiarity in the features of the man looming over me, even if his fierce expression made him almost unrecognizable.
Marcus…?
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My tongue was still thick and clumsy, the rest of my body slow and sluggish, and my wolf couldn’t formulate any kind of coherent thought. I felt my body growing weaker.
With a final struggle, I ripped the dart out of my side, but the flood of fire was already blazing up my spine, and I collapsed at the jet black boots of the man who either didn’t recognize me or didn’t care.
Cole’s words came back to haunt me like a ghost, which might well be what I was soon.
If he doesn’t take your life, he’ll take everything else.
As Marcus looked down at me, the confusion in his eyes mirrored that of the vampires’, even if he didn’t seem afraid like they had been. He nudged my side with the toe of his boot. A high-pitched whine escaped me, and that seemed to give him pause.